With the purpose of preventing or exterminating disease damage caused by pests, for example, plant pathogens or harmful plant insects, present on plants, producers conduct a prevention method by diluting an agrochemical formulation such as fungicides or insecticides for agriculture or horticulture with water; and spraying on plants. However, an active ingredient of an agrochemical, which is attached to a plant surface by spraying, easily runs off by rainfall or spraying of water and also is detached or fallen off by wind, thereby damaging the pest control persistence of the agrochemical. As a result, problems have occurred such as decreases in the agricultural productivity, increases in the manpower and the production cost due to further required agrochemical application, and deterioration of environment safety by excessive applications of agrochemicals or the like.
In order to overcome these problems, sticking agents for sticking an agrochemical component on a plant surface have been conventionally developed with the purpose of preventing agrochemicals from running off, or being detached or fallen off by rainfall or the like. For example, JP-A 2005-170892 discloses a chemical for agriculture or horticulture, which has a particle size of 5 to 75 μm and contains a control agent for agriculture or horticulture and edible oil and fat.
Meanwhile, with the purpose of improving the formulation stability of an agrochemical formulation, vegetable oils have been used. For example, JP-A 2007-39370 discloses an aqueous suspended agrochemical formulation with improved suspension stability of formulation, which contains a disinfecting agrochemical active ingredient, kraft lignin, and a vegetable oil or a higher fatty acid. Further, JP-A 2011-148756 discloses an emulsion for insecticidal and miticidal use, which contains insecticidal etoxazole or an insecticide, a vegetable oil and an emulsifier and has such improved stability as to prevent etoxazole from sedimenting.